Bicycles mean independence for many

August 27, 2010

When I was a kid, I spent lots of time on my bike. It was a 26-inch balloon tire bike (no gears) that a neighbor gave me when his daughter went off to college. As soon as I could reach the pedals, I took off.

That bike was my independence. I could go where I wanted to go. I loved the feeling of making it up the long hills and catching my breath as I coasted downhill I used it to visit friends, to explore, and to go to one of my favorite spots, a little-used grove with a stream. I would pack some snacks and a book and spend the day there.

When I was in seminary, I had a chance to travel to Kenya and to India. There I saw lots of people on bikes, but for many of those people their bikes were their only means of transportation — the bikes took them to their jobs, to the market, to the doctor — anywhere they needed to go.

We use bicycles in this country for pleasure, exercise and racing. Some people use a bike to save on gas or to help save the environment. But for people in many other parts of the world, bicycles mean survival, dignity, even hope.

That's what excited me when I first heard about Pedals for Progress — P4P — an organization that collects used bicycles from this country and ships them to poor countries around the world. On July 31, it shipped its 45th container to Rivas, Nicaragua, which had received its first shipment in 1991.

Through a revolving fund system started by the people there, P4P helped create a bicycle society there. Incomes in Rivas have risen and the quality of life has improved dramatically. In 1991, the city boasted one bike shop; today there are more than 40 privately owned bike repair shops and a demand of over 2,200 bikes per year.

P4P founder Dave Schweidenback says that every year, Americans buy 22 million new bicycles. Many of the old ones end up in landfills. Meanwhile, poor people overseas need cheap, non-polluting transportation to get to jobs, markets, customers and schools.

P4P has donated more than 115,000 bicycles, 1,000 used sewing machines and $10.8 million in new spare parts to 32 developing countries. It improves the world economy by promoting self-sustaining bicycle repair businesses.

"Used bicycles can transform the economic and social condition of families," says Schweidenback. "They give people access to jobs, health care and education that is too distant for walking."

For example, he tells of a man in Nicaragua who works six days a week to support his six children and buy medicine for his wife, who has cancer. For 20 years, he walked six to seven hours a day, hauling his merchandise in a wheelbarrow along a 6-mile route. This earned him $2 to $3 a day. Since buying a bike, he was able to sell more and almost double his income.

Today P4P has 140 used bike drives each year. Donors are asked to pay $10 per bike to help cover shipping costs and reduce the cost of the bicycle when its sold overseas. Each bike is sold for about $15. The group also collects used sewing machines in working order.

So on Oct. 2, 9 a.m. to noon, the used bike that I have in my garage and my friend's sewing machine will be loaded on the P4P truck in the parking lot at the corner of Center and North Street in Bethlehem. The drive is being organized by the five United Church of Christ congregations in Bethlehem because we want to make a difference for people. How about you?

The Rev. Sharon Solt Joseph is pastor of the Church of the Manger United Church of Christ, Bethlehem.